Polygamy Problems For Indonesia’s 50-Year-Old Virgins?

Yesterday I was not at my best for blogging, instead engaged in watching tv reports about the monstrous attack in Las Vegas. A dark, depressing day, everywhere, surely.

So if output was not scintillating ( mostly posts previously scheduled and little fresh work done) my apologies.

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Today, I’m resorting to local news, which may serve to brighten you up – or appal you, not sure which –  all about the alleged plight of ‘many women in their 40s of 50s who are still virgins and unmarried..’ 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/10/03/ayo-poligami-app-attracts-56000-members-new-version-set-to-launch–.html

Indonesian women are famously ( though not invariably!) beautiful, and it strikes me as improbable that many of them reach early middle-age unwed if they don’t want to do so.

However, the Jakarta Post article concerns a new app, or ‘ep‘ as they pronounce it here, promoting polygamy!

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Its creator, a guy named Lindu Cipta Pranayama, described his motivation and target audience.

“Can you image being in your 40s or 50s but never been touched by a man?” added the 35-year-old, who created the app after failing to find a wife on several dating sites.

Well, I can imagine that, never having wanted to be ‘touched by a man!’

But what’s Lindu’s problem? Men don’t need ‘dating sites’ in Jakarta. Just take a walk round the many malls, or even board a bus – never difficult to get chatting to some pleasant lady!

And I  can’t imagine why all these poor women would have such a problem either. There are plenty of places they can meet chaps.

I don’t mean the dodgy bars – lots of high-class hotels have ‘ladies’ nights…’

…and there are all kinds of clubs, societies etc. they can join to meet the like-minded.

Age is hardly relevant – I have a friend ( not a girl-friend) who calls herself ‘an old lady’ and claims to be be 50, and she is drop-dead gorgeous. Unless there’s something very amiss, Indonesian ladies into their 6th decade can be delightful to behold.

But why on earth would they contemplate polygamy?

There has been ‘controversy’ over Lindu’s brain-child, Ayo Poligami, loosely translated as “let’s go polygamy…”… a free smartphone app that matches married and single Muslim men with women who want to create “big families.”

Not ‘controversy,’ alas, about the iniquitously discriminatory way the multiple spouse law is applied.

Men who apply to one of the country’s Islamic courts, which have jurisdiction over marriage, are able to take a second wife under certain circumstances.

So women are second-class citizens – no right for them to take a second husband, in ANY circumstances!

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To be fair to Indonesia, the report does state that Indonesian law defines marriage as between a man and a woman…

GOOD!

As should all countries!

…but…an important but…polygamy is tolerated in certain circumstances, despite being generally frowned upon.

Good that the sexist practice is frowned on, but a shame it’s not outlawed…

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…or, if hornies of one sex are catered for, the same approval is not afforded to over-sexed gals.

Women’s rights protests are being heard, but far too narrowly focused, in my view. Adriana Venny Aryani, speaking for the National Commission on Violence Against Women, claims that –

“When the husband is practicing polygamy, women are emotionally abused, economically (abused), and sometimes violently.”

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No doubt.

But Adrianna has been politically active, in former President SBY’s party. Some might argue that modern-minded citizens of both sexes (please note, I avoid that silly word ‘gender,’ which is better deployed in grammar tomes) should be more usefully involved in getting rid of the entire archaic practice.

Unlikely, in view of the powerful politicians who themselves indulge in polygamous marriage!

We looked at this before, part of our post on Malaysia Truly Arabia – Doubly Discriminatory?  being devoted to the related issues in Indonesia.

Arianna and her colleagues need to square up to such people.